By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LA PAZ, Bolivia – Four masked men stormed a small, independent radio station, doused the equipment and host in gasoline, and set the station and the people in it ablaze this past Monday, October 29, 2012.  The attack occurred while radio journalist Fernando Vidal was on the air; listeners heard gunshots and Vidal’s cries for help until the feed quit due to the fire.

Vidal, 70, is the owner and host of Radio Popular, a small FM station in the southern city of Yacuiba.  The city, population 120,000, is located close to the Argentine border along a cocaine smuggling route and where trade in contraband is rampant.  Vidal was interviewing two women about alleged corruption among customs police when the attack occurred.

Initially, this led some to posit that smugglers, incited by Vidal’s commentary, staged the attack.  Esteban Farfan, also a host at Radio Popular and Vidal’s son-in-law, thinks the attack was politically motivated.  Vidal, a former mayor of Yacuiba, uses his daily radio program as a platform to denounce corruption at every level of government.

“My father-in-law knows the identity of the people who ordered this act,” said Farfan. “There are political interests that want to silence the radio station. We will name names at the appropriate time.”

Police currently have four suspects in custody.  According to Interior Minister Carlos Romero, one of the suspects was a mechanic, another a taxi driver, and none of the men had ever been in serious trouble with the law.

“There is surely someone else behind this and that’s what we’re investigating,” Romero added.

Farfan, however, remains skeptical.  He sees the arrests of the attackers as the easy part of solving this case.  He wants the mastermind behind the attack revealed and brought to justice.

“Vidal is an outspoken and respected journalist who made enemies with his opinions,” Farfan said.

A leftist, Vidal was once close to President Evo Morales, but the journalist broke off his support over what he described as the president’s turn to authoritarianism.

“He is a relentless critic of corruption,” Farfan said. “He calls out politicians who allegedly grow their personal bank accounts with state funds and routinely calls for investigations into corruption.”

Vidal is currently in serious but stable condition with second-degree burns to his face and arms.  A station technician, Karen Arce, also suffered less serious burns in the attack.  Everyone else was able to avoid the flames by jumping out windows.

The radio station borrowed equipment and was back on the air less than 24 hours after the attack.

Multiple international organizations condemned the attack.  It was a “vicious and brazen” attack, the spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

A heavily-bandaged Vidal told reporters: “I deeply thank the solidarity of all my friends, colleagues, co-workers and journalists and ask them to keep up the work of bringing forth the evidence and revealing the truth.”

For further information, please see:

Digital Spy – Bolivian radio presenter set on fire while on air – 2 November 2012

The Guardian – Bolivian radio owner set on fire – 2 November 2012

CNN – Bolivian journalist’s family wants to know who was behind attack – 1 November 2012

ABC – Bolivia Radio Host Attacked on Air – 30 October 2012

 

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SUCRE, Bolivia – The Bolivian government may be intending to not only regulate Social Media but has levied vague threats against critics of President Evo Morales’ regime. Last week Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera claimed to have been stalking people online and “Writing down the first and last names of the people who insult him [President Morales] on Facebook and Twitter.”

Threats aside lawmakers from the Socialism Party hope to push a proposed law regulating social media through the country’s congress and impose sanctions upon those who insult the President.

Backers of the proposed bill claim that constructive criticism is fine, but claim they are seeing something much more sinister. That people become heated and get personal beyond the realms of respect, and that hatred is what the new law will regulate on social media.  Congressmen Franklin Garvizu believes that this ‘criticism’ they are seeing online is “A case of systematically using communications mechanisms to plant hatred against the government, to harm the image of our president.” The threat is not necessarily imagined. The Arab Spring that began in late 2010 that toppled leaders in the Middle East was pushed through social media services like Twitter. They used social media to coordinate and spread information.

Opposition to Bolivia believes this to be an authoritarian aim to censor the people and social networks. The fact that people believe that the government is monitoring information on digital websites and networks has possibly exasperated the situation as people have taken to those same social networking sites to express their criticism. While many of these insults are lowered to debasing the President through racial slurs, the belief that regulating the speech of critics could be used to black out any criticism of the government. In many parts of the world, the thought of regulating free speech on social media would be seen as a breach of human rights.

There are currently 10 million Bolivian residents, 8.7 of which have cell phones with the ability to view Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, with approximately 1.7 million Facebook users. Critics of the Socialism Parties legislative act believe that the government should use this as a way to interact and promote the government rather than censor it. Eduardo Rojas, president of Bolivia’s Redes Foundation expiated, “You can defend, promote and spread human rights, and on the other hand complaints.”  And he continued “It is a device that can be used to deepen democracy,” rather than destroy it.

For further information, please see:

CNN – Bolivia Weighs Regulating Social Media – 26 October 2012

Everything PR – Bolivia Proposes Law Regulating Social Media – 26 October 2012

Texcoco Mass Media – Bolivia Warns Sanctions On Insults To Evo – 24 October 2012

Universo – Bolivian Government Worried About Insulting Evo Morales On Facebook – 24 October 2012

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – A new local ordinance in Lima was enacted with the intent of relocating a market due to hygiene concerns. The police tasked with closing down the markets in La Parada were met with violent protests from stall-owners and local citizens. While resistance was expected, the police were not originally prepared for the levels of violence they encountered.

The market at La Parada is known to be filled with criminals and a place where you can buy stolen and black market goods. The resistance that the National Police of Peru have faced may have been a shock, but protesters have a method for their madness. Beyond the mere criminal aspects of the market, numerous law-abiding shopkeepers are being forced to relocate into this new market. Critics of the relocation claim that the new market space will not provide sufficient space with a much higher rent.

The forced market relocation began with a  riot. Police originally used concrete blocks and bricks to stop supply trucks from entering the La Parada market. They were attacked with clubs and bricks, the police responded with live ammunition and tear gas.

On the first day, one person was shot and killed and a police officer was beaten to near death. The protests continued and two more people died in clashes with the police.

Lima’s Mayor, Susana Villaran, has accused stall-owners of hiring criminals to stall the police with rocks and clubs, claiming that the real merchants want to move into the new market. She continued that “We are regaining order and security in an area that has only been one of disorder, chaos, insecurity and filth.”

As the police have managed to pacify the area 2,000 officers have remained to enforce public order and restrict the recreation of the markets. 1,500 have been stationed at supply centers to prevent recurrence of violence or allow trucks to enter the area and restock the protesters and bring food into the area. Another 500 have been sent to patrol the area to ensure that peace and dissuade criminals from re-continuing their illegal acts.

The Ministry of Interior has announced a campaign to identify the criminal who caused the riots and began attacking policemen. They plan on n using surveillance equipment in order to identify protesters  The police will also begin putting up physical and digital posters with the faces of the agitators. The Ministry expects the support of the population in this matter.

To date 101 people have been arrested, including 6 minors.

For further information, please see:

Andina Agencia Peruana De Noticias – More Than 2,000 Officers Remain At The Stop To Ensure Public Order – 28 October 2012

La Republica – The Stop: Interior Minister Announces Campaign To Identify Attackers Of Police – 28 October 2012

RPP Noticias – Pedraza Assumes Some Responsibility For Acts Of La Parada – 28 October 2012

The BBC – Peru Clashes: Two More Die In Lima Market Protests – 27 October 2012

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – The last members of the Mapuche Indian hunger strike protesting the Chilean government has ended. The Indigenous Inmates hunger strike which began July12 2012 was in protest of the treatment they received and misuses of their ancestral lands.

Late Sunday Evening one of the protesters,  Quijo Leonardo had to be transferred from his cell after abdominal pain led to a minor episode of cardiac arrest. However at the medical center he refused medical treatment after a blood test and the staff was forced to return him to the prison in Temuco, Chile.

The Mapuche inmate strike began with members of the indigenous tribe forsaking food and medical treatment. These inmates believing themselves to be political prisoners are protesting the Chileans treatment of the Mapuche indigenous tribe. They continue that their group has been unfairly prosecuted and their human rights continually violated. Their numbers have slowly dwindled during the past 2 months as health reasons have forced them to abandon their protest of the Chilean laws that placed them in prison.

The prison in Angol has a permanent group of protesters outside the cities jail, actively protesting the anti-terrorist law. The bulk of the protest is criticizing the Chilean governments use anti-terrorism laws that unfairly prosecute Mapuche members. Known as the Anti-Terrorism Act, it was originally enacted by General Pinochet who used it to quell dissent and subversives of his government. In 1993 the government began enforcing the law to actively criminalize the Mapuche social movement. The law allows citizens to be detained indefinitely and tried in military tribunal courts where they would receive harsher sentences than in a civilian court.

While the Chilean government has vowed to support changes to the anti-terrorism laws, Mapuche protesters are still being met with violent response from the countries national police force. The hunger strike that was just ended could be seen as an extension of the a similar strike that occurred two years prior where 30 Mapuche inmates refused food. Their message was overshadowed by the rescue of the trapped Chilean Miners in 2010.

Chilean government officials and representatives feared violent conflict as the protest continued, with human rights experts fearing a violent outburst if one of the protesters died. Small skirmishes have already erupted on October 15^th, after individual inmates suffered health risks as a result of their hunger strikes.

While not all their demands were met, representatives believe that “The steps taken to end the hunger strike have reached a satisfactory conclusion,” and would be welcomed by the Mapuche people.

There are approximately 650,000 Chileans who identify as members of the Mapuche, almost 3.5 percent of the people in Chile.

For further information; please see:

Latercera – Mapuche Still On Hunger Strike And Refuse Medical Care – 22 October 2012

Latin America Herald Tribune – Last 10 Mapcuche Indians On Hunger Strike In Chile End Fasting – 22 October 2012

UNPO – Mapuche: Court Action For Human Rights Against Chile – 22 October 2012

The Argentina Independent – Chile: Court Sends Mapuche Hunger Strikers Back To Prison – 19 October 2012

Sounds and Colours Magazine – Mapuche Hunger Strike In Chile Highlights The Real Problem Facing President Sebastian Pinera – 15 October 2010

By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – United Nations Human Rights experts published an open letter today voicing serious concerns that constitutional amendments currently before Congress would enable members of the military or police forces (Fuerza Pública) to avoid prosecution for substantial violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The proposed amendments pertain to articles 116, 152 and 221 of Colombia’s Constitution.  According to the 11 experts who signed the letter, the modifications would essentially allow the Fuerza Pública to self-police, at least at the initial critical stages of investigations.

The constitutional reform project would expand the jurisdiction of military or police tribunals, giving them the power to investigate, process and decide on cases of human rights violations, which, according to the experts, should be under the authority of the ordinary criminal justice system.

According to the letter, “[S]uch a reform would represent a historic setback to the progress achieved by the State of Colombia in the fight against impunity and respect and guarantee of human rights.”

Notably, the criminal military justice institutions would not gain jurisdiction over crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of enforced disappearances.  However, military and police courts would be competent to investigate, process and judge a long list of other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes; arbitrary detention; cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and other violations such as violence against the person and mutilation; taking of hostages; outrages upon personal dignity, including humiliating treatment; and the obligation to treat persons taking no active part in the hostilities humanely in all circumstances, without any distinction on grounds of ethnicity, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria, prohibited by virtue of common article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. These courts could also have jurisdiction over crimes committed by private security forces.

Paramilitary groups were set up in the 1980s by rich landowners looking for protection from rebels. But as they pushed back insurgents, the militias often massacred people on suspicion that they had colluded with guerrillas.

Over the last decade, scores of members of Colombia’s Congress have been jailed for links to paramilitary groups, and new accusations and cases continue to arise six years after the militias officially demobilized in a government-run process.

Thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced in 50 years of war between the Colombian government and leftist guerrillas, whose grievances include the unequal distribution of land.

Negotiators from the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have agreed to meet in Cuba in mid-November to start what are likely to be thorny peace talks aimed at patching together an end to the conflict, both sides said in Norway on Thursday after initial talks.

For further information, please see:

Chicago Tribune – Colombian forces could skirt prosecution, U.N. experts warn – 22 October 2012

Colombia Report – Colombian constitutional reform ‘undermines justice’: UN – 22 October 2012

KUNA – UN experts call on the authorities to reform the military criminal justice in Colombia – 22 October 2012

United Nations Human Rights – Open letter by Special Procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council to the Government and representatives of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia – 22 October 2012